While I used to be and do other things, I am mostly a dad and a husband right now.  Most of those other things weren’t nearly as rewarding...

My wife and I met when we were in junior high school and began dating in our freshman year of high school.  We went to Northern Arizona University together and, by coincidence, both graduated in 4.5 years.  In the last year of college, I asked her to marry me and she figured “why not” since we’d been together that long already. 

We moved to the Seattle area in 2001 so that I could go to graduate school at the University of Washington.  Mandy found a job at an awesome school in Shoreline where we met many good friends.  I graduated in 2004 with a MS in Biostatistics and accepted a job with the University of Washington.

We now have TWO beautiful children together: Cyrus (born 10/21/05) and Sage (born 11/23/07).  Cyrus is strong-willed, serious, shy (at first), observant, verbal, and sensitive.  As a baby, he was a challenge.  He refused to eat for the first 10 days of life.  Until he could sit up on his own, he required constant motion.  He did not sleep “like a baby”: two-three hours at most for 4 months and would awake from a dead sleep if a knuckle in your pinky finger cracked as you left the room.  He barely slept half of what most books were telling us he should be sleeping.  He was our challenge, and we love him dearly. 

Sage is our happy child and she is a fun little girl.  At almost 11 months old, she probably has better fine motor skills than her older brother and may be drinking out of a cup before him!  She’s finally sleeping through the night and is starting to think about walking.  Sage LOVES to play and loves toys... especially Cyrus’ toys.  Cyrus is usually okay with that because he really only has a few favorite toys that are off limits to her.

I’ve learned that when babies come into the world, they come with their own personalities and agendas.  Regardless of what they hand you, the end result is the same: you age, get fatter, and love them anyway.